I am not excited about today. I do not think things will change. No, I don't think things would have been better with McCain but I don't think Obama is the hero everyone else seems to think he is. I am quite aware he hasn't been in power long enough to make changes. But based on his time as a state and federal senator (when he did things such as introduce shady legislature to benefit his campaign contributors Astellas Pharma and Nufarm), his overly broad and most likely unattainable campaign promises, and his actions as president-elect (from his cabinet nominations to his supporting of his securities industries friends in the bailout to the anti-gay minister who is speaking today), I think I have an accurate picture of Obama to say that he is more of the same. He is the same old lies in a new package.

And that is not a nod to his race, either. It is a remark about his entire image. Are you all aware that the Obama Campaign won the Ad Age's Marketer of the Year award - above such companies as Nike and Apple? The brush of Hope and Change that he has been painted with is a carefully constructed marketing tool. On the inside, Obama has the same mix of ego, corruption, and noble ideals that make up any politician. He has taken lobbyist money (even during his presidential campaign when he claimed he wasn't), he has enacted legislature that benefited those companies at the expense of the American people, and he has stuck to party line instead of fighting for real progress. For example, there are several people that have said how Obama is for Gay Marriage - an issue near and dear to my heart. He is for no such thing. He is for civil unions. I honestly find it shocking to find our first black president so avidly a proponent of the 21st century version of 'separate but equal.'

He is our first black president and that is a HUGE step forward for equality. But that doesn't invalidate all of the other struggles for equality out there - be they racial, sexual, religious, or gender-based. It doesn't even erase the struggle for equality for African Americans, who are still fighting for equality at home, in the schools, in the workplace, and on Capitol Hill. These fights went on yesterday under George W Bush and they will go on tomorrow under Obama. We CANNOT abandon these critical struggles for civil liberties for any reason - be it in the face of an unprecedented economic crisis or under the reigns of a new national leader. If this leader truly brings change, it should not inspire complacency that he will "take care of it" but it should inspire us all to further heights of action.

That is why I am so upset about today. It seems that everyone is so carried away with these slogans of 'Hope' and 'Change' that no one will hold our new president to his campaign promises. All politicians should be under constant scrutiny by the public. I think Obama will be insulated against criticism by first the rosy glow of being Anybody-But-George-Bush and then by the "if you don't like him, you're a racist" card. The "if you don't like him, you're unpatriotic" card protected George W Bush for a long time and I am worried we will see that again.

I don't necessarily think Obama is going to be a terrible president. But neither do I think he is going to be a great president - not without the American People taking an active role in his presidency. This goes for every politician. We should be watching all of them or we'll have more Foley's and Libby's and Blagobadhairday's. So that is also why I am in part so upset with Obama. He inspired voters who had never participated to get active. He sparked a huge online movement. And all of this mobility could and SHOULD be used to fight for the very things Obama has promised us - equality, security, and peace - yet it seems like everyone is content to let him run the country without oversight or direction and let all of this energy that would make real change dissipate.

And then there are all the declarations about how this election season marked "an end to social injustice and the dawn of equality." (Yes, some stupid whore said that on CNN today.) Yes, we now have our first black president and, as I said above, that is a huge step forward. But this election also marked one of the worst blows against gay rights this country has seen. I cannot honestly feel like I am living in a nation that is a beacon of equality because my rights have been denied. Worse, those rights have been stripped from me because until November, I HAD the right to get married! And for all of you people who say "move" - FUCK YOU! California and America is my HOME! Why should I have to move to another state or another country just to be able to marry the person I love? When minorities were fighting laws about interracial marriage, should they have moved? When African Americans didn't have the right to vote should they have moved somewhere where they could? Should Martin Luther King's dream have been for all blacks to move to another country instead of changing this one so all races could live in harmony? What about women? Fuck Suffrage! All women should have just moved. Then maybe we'd have gay marriage since there would be no women left!

If your solution is "just leave" then why don't you take your own advice and get the fuck out of MY country? Because it is mine as much as yours and I deserve to live here, in which ever state is my home, and have the same legal treatment as any other citizen. There are 1138 FEDERAL rights that are denied to gays because of their inability to marry. These are not state rights, they are FEDERAL rights which makes gay marriage a federal issue and not a state by state issue. If I fall in love in California, where I am born and raised, I shouldn't have to move just to make sure my husband could keep custody of our children or retain position of our house if I died... or even make medical decisions for me if I was hospitalized!

The glbt rights issue is going to be on the back burner (if its even raised at all) for the Obama administration because his priority is going to be the economy - and rightfully so. But like I said, no matter what crisis is at our door, we cannot abandon civil liberties. Look at what happened during the Bush administration! The War on Terror saw civil liberties stripped back until it seems like we were in an Orwell novel! WE MUST FIGHT no matter what else is happening - be it war or economic crisis or the release of a new Britney Spears album. And even when one social milestone is overturned, we have to fight for the others. You can't just fight for your own interests. I don't just fight for glbt rights but for civil liberties for all.

Some haters have said I don't do enough with my celebrity to fight for these issues? REALLY? I'm pretty sure I'm a man in a dress and I have built my career around being very open about my sexuality. Is 'Straight Boys' not enough of an in-your-face track? I have never felt that it is my job to spend all of my time talking about politics. If that was what I wanted to do, I'd be a man in a dress running for president. I'm an artist. My music is meant to be fun, to give people something dance and fuck to. But I have never covered up who I am or what is under my skirt. Every time I do anything, at least one person has to say "oh you're just mad because you don't have a vagina." Yup. I have a huge dick and I put it in your dad last night. And what? But for those of you who say I should be organizing people to write petitions, fuck you. I'm not running for office and I'm not trying to start a charity. I have had several posts on myspace about issues I hold dear - remember my #1 blog about gay rights? - and I ALWAYS speak my mind. I am not trying to be a pinnacle of the gay community. I am not trying to be a poster child for gay rights. I am trying to be myself - a cunty, sex-and-fashion-obsessed musician who looks better in a skirt than your girlfriend. I'm not going to use my celebrity to try and beat people into agreeing with me. I talk about things when they bother me and I move on. I don't pander to my fans by taking popular stances about social issues to try and make myself look like a saint. People who do that are pathetic. Why are you looking at me to do it anyway? If you feel so fucking strongly about it, stop commenting on my posts about how I should start a petition and go start your own. Don't wait for me to do it and don't wait for Obama to do it either. Quit being so fucking complacent and waiting for a leader to guide us all out of here and start fighting for the fucking change you expected when you slapped that Obama bumper sticker on your mom's minivan. THAT is why I'm pissed - because no one wants to do anything for themselves. America is more than just one person's voice. It is more than Obama, it is more than me, it is more than Capitol Hill. It is ALL of us! I do my part by speaking out when something bothers me. And yes, I do work with gay rights organizations like the HRC but I don't brag about it on myspace to try and gain anyone's respect. What I do for charities and social issues is a private matter and I will never exploit it to try and gain respect or fans. I believe public figures should talk about issues that bother them like any other person but I think important social issues get exploited to gain popularity too much and I will NEVER do that. I love my fans too much to tell them how to think or try to make them like me for anything other than who I am.

I am depressed today and I am not watching the inauguration. I think Obama will be more of the same bullshit political lies we get from every level of politics. I think it is going to be a long fight for gay rights. So while everyone is celebrating equality, I'll be flying back to my home in California after being called a faggot in the airport, wondering where my change and hope is supposed to be. Yes we can? Sure, we could... but we didn't.